Information

W&L's RITTER AWARDED NCAA POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Washington and Lee senior swimmer Eric
Ritter (Birmingham, Ala./Mountain Brook) has been awarded a
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Postgraduate
Scholarship. The award is a $7,500 scholarship for academic work
beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time
graduate student.

Ritter was one of 58 awardees from NCAA All-Divisions who
received the scholarship after participating in a winter sport. The
NCAA awards 174 scholarships annually in the fall, winter and
spring seasons. Football player John Melillo '03 and tennis player
Erika Proko '03 both received one of the 174 scholarships during
the 2002-03 school year. Ritter's selection marked the 22nd time a
W&L athlete has been selected to receive an NCAA Postgraduate
Scholarship since 1970.

A biology and classics major, Ritter claims a 3.879 cumulative
grade-point average and plans on attending medical school at the
University of Alabama.

In swimming, Ritter qualified for the NCAA Championships all
four years, earning All-America honors five times. A three-time
College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Academic
All-American, Ritter will graduate holding school records in the
100 backstroke (51.07), 200 backstroke (1:51.91), 200 medley relay
(1:36.12) and 400 medley relay (3:30.18). As a senior, Ritter led
W&L to a 7-0 record and a Bluegrass Mountain Conference
Championship. A First Team All-Bluegrass Mountain Conference
selection, Ritter finished seventh in the 100 back and 13th in the
200 back at the 2004 NCAA Championships.

In addition to his work in the pool and classroom, Ritter has
also served as an assistant swimming coach in his hometown of
Birmingham, Ala., and has been a volunteer with the Lexington
Rescue Squad.